The purpose of this research was to investigate the link between gender identity and engagement in three health behaviors—alcohol consumption, marijuana use, and the non-medical use of prescription stimulants. Historically, health research has focused on how biological sex (i.e. male and female) is associated with engagement in health behaviors, thereby ignoring the role that gender identity (i.e. masculine and feminine) plays in making health decisions. The primary goal of this study was to offer a more contemporary understanding of health research by considering gender identity instead of biological sex in order to suggest a more accurate way for researchers to investigate health behaviors and, consequently, develop more effective interventions. A secondary goal of this research was to add to the established literature exploring the close relationships between the three health behaviors. Throughout this paper, sex is used to indicate the biological dichotomy of male and female, and gender is used to indicate the cultural representations of masculinity and femininity. This study uses Social Constructionism, Social Learning Theory, and Gender Schema Theory as theoretical foundations for the hypotheses. The role that gender identity plays in predicting alcohol use, marijuana use, and the non-medical use of prescriptions stimulants in a college-age population was investigated. It was hypothesized that gender identity would be more accurate than sex in predicting engagement in health behaviors. Participants were recruited from several Communication courses at Florida State University during the spring 2017 semester. In total, 205 respondents completed the online survey; ultimately 174 responses were included in data analysis. The Bem Sex-Role Inventory was used to measure gender identity, the AUDIT-C was used to measure alcohol consumption, the UNCOPE was used to measure marijuana use, and the Stimulant Medication Use Questionnaire was used to measure prescription stimulant misuse. The results did not show significant relationships between gender identity or sex and the three health behaviors. However, the results did show significant relationships between the three health behaviors. The results indicate that, in the current sample, neither gender identity nor sex predict alcohol consumption, marijuana use, or the non-medical use of prescription stimulants, though the three health behaviors are related to one another, which supports the literature regarding substance use. / A Thesis submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 18, 2018. / alcohol use, gender identity, health, marijuana use, non-medical use of prescription stimulants, prescription misuse / Includes bibliographical references. / Ulla Sypher, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Russell B. Clayton, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Laura Arpan, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_653503 |
| Contributors | Scholz, Kendra (author), Sypher, Ulla (professor co-directing thesis), Clayton, Russell B. (professor co-directing thesis), Arpan, Laura M. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Communication and Information (degree granting college), School of Communication (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, master thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (78 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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